Today’s guest blogger, Shauna, is a proud pet parent. She has shared her popular and entertaining blog about “dogs and other messy things,” Fido and Wino, with us in preparation for Valentine’s Day.

As Valentine’s Day approaches you could be thinking a couple of things. Maybe you’re contentedly daydreaming about perforated paper bunny cards, too-hot cinnamon hearts and the various secret admirers you are sure to have doting on you this year.

Or perhaps you are thinking, “Ugh.”

You’re not alone. Yahoo News reports that one in five people would prefer to spend Valentine’s Day with their pet over their partner.

So here are the top ten reasons why a dog makes a better date this Valentine’s Day:

Dogs don’t talk. I could elaborate, but I think we can all agree this is a good thing.

If you worry your dog will destroy your lovely home four seconds after you step out the door, you can put him in a crate. The authorities frown upon this when it comes to dates.

Find out the other eight reasons after the jump!

Dog slobber is cute. Date slobber is very not cute. Ever.

You
don’t have to share your dessert with a dog (and probably shouldn’t).
This is great because dessert is the best part about Valentine’s Day
and all that stuff conveniently makes dogs sick. So you get your
tempting torte all to yourself. Perfect!

For the
not-so-romantic folks out there, a dog won’t look hopefully, then
desperately, and finally disdainfully into your eyes when the evening
doesn’t end in a helicopter ride to Paris and a romantic marriage
proposal. Won’t happen. Prolonged eye contact totally freaks dogs out.

When
a dog follows you around it’s cute. Am I right? Pretty much nothing is
better than being adored by a dog. If a date follows you around … we
call that little phenomenon stalking.

Dogs don’t care
if you are “presentable” or not. You don’t have to buy expensive shoes
to hang out with your dog. You don’t even have to shower. Just head out
on a couple of hikes, toss a ball around, dole out a healthy belly rub
and you’re golden! No makeup, no ironing, no Spanx required. Amen.

You
will never have to dream up a way to gently/firmly/sneakily “get rid”
of a dog. Because you’d never want to get rid of a dog! Dogs are fun,
and funny, and goofy, and handily clean food right off the kitchen
floor for you when you drop it. Dates seem to think that kind of thing
is below them. Lame.

Pup snuggles are the best.
Okay, snuggles from a human can be pretty darn good too, but when Fido
nuzzles into the nape of your neck and huffs a grumbly sigh, you’ll
stay in that exact same position for ages so you don’t disrupt the
little mutt’s comfort.

Did I mention dogs don’t talk?

So off you go! Use the Petfinder search tool to the left of this post
to find your best Valentine’s date yet! And enjoy your torte. All of it.